


The Mighty Fall

by anniedee7123



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elementary School, Elementary School, Gen, kid!destiel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-06
Updated: 2014-03-09
Packaged: 2018-01-14 17:48:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1275439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anniedee7123/pseuds/anniedee7123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The beginning of fourth grade is just what Dean expects—he doesn't get to sit next to his best friend, the girl in his group hates him, and a group of fifth grade bullies has taken over the playground. But that's about to change. News that the school is shutting down spreads, and the time for action is now. Dean and his band of friends are going to take back what's rightfully theirs. And Dean will find help in the most unlikely of places—a quiet boy with a funny name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day 1

Mary straightened Dean's shirt and smoothed down his mussed hair with a weary sigh.

"You remember what Dad told you this morning, right Dean?" she asked taking a step back. Behind her Sam climbed out of the car, and Dean giggled at how small he looked compared to his backpack.

"Dean?"

He looked back at his mom and nodded solemnly. "Yes. He said to make sure Sam was okay."

She smiled warmly. "Do you remember what I said?"

"Have fun."

"That's right." She knelt down in front of Sam and Dean and wrapped her arms around both of them. "You two stay out of trouble, alright? I'll be in the pickup line when school ends. Have a good first day of school."

"'Bye, Mommy," Sam said. His voice was so small and terrified. He didn't sound anything like the kid Dean was playing with in the backyard yesterday. As Mary drove away, Dean put a solid hand on Sam's shoulder the way John would for Dean, and Sam looked up at him.

"I'll show you where the first grade classroom is," Dean said. Together they backed away from the curb and melded with the stream of kids heading for the set of large wooden doors in front of them. Dean felt Sam's strong little hand slide into his own as they passed through the entrance of the school. People jostled them from every side as Dean fought to lead Sam in the right direction. Sam's grip on Dean's hand only got tighter as they filtered through the huge lobby and into the first grade wing. At least the students in other grades had gone down to their own wings of the school now, so Dean could see over everyone's heads.

"That's your room," Dean said, pointing with his free hand. Sam looked between the door, where a grandmotherly woman was greeting students as they walked in, and Dean with wide eyes.

"You got this," Dean said, patting Sam on the back. His little brother smiled faintly and straightened up. Dean nodded as Sam walked forward alone, only to have his new teacher greet him. She nodded at Dean and ushered Sam into her classroom, out of Dean's sight.

The trickle of students was thinning, and it didn't take Dean long to find his own room. There was no grandmotherly teacher to greet him at the door because fourth graders were big kids. He walked into his classroom proudly with a typical smirk on his round face.

The classroom was at least half full already. There were students sitting at clusters of desks, talking in loud voices. Dean sighed, thinking how mad his mom would be if she heard they weren't using their inside voices. He scanned the room and saw his friend Benny from last year, sitting at a group of desks in the front of the room. He grinned at Dean, exposing a row of extremely crooked front teeth. Dean waved and smiled back.

There were name cards on the desks, and Dean found his in group across from Benny. This new teacher must have heard that the two of them sitting together meant trouble. At least they were still close enough to whisper. Dean smirked at Benny as he took his seat, wagging his eyebrows in a way that would make classic cartoon villains proud.

Dean sat down and read the names of the rest of kids at his table. All but one were unfamiliar, but sitting right across from him was Jo Harvelle. Just reading her name made Dean bright red from embarrassment. Last year Benny had dared him to kiss one of the girls, and Dean had had a crush on Jo at the time so he chose her. He ended up in the nurse's office with a bloody nose and he hadn't talked to her since. And now she was taking her seat. Right across from him. He wanted to cover his face with his hands.

"Hi Dean," Jo said. She didn't sound like she was going to hit him again, but Dean didn't want to take any chances.

"Hi Jo," he mumbled. She didn't respond as she took out a green pen and immediately started scribbling on the desk. Dean watched as she drew a heart chain and then a tree and some weird swirly designs. She was a good drawer.

"That's really good," he said, pointing to the tree. She had just added three birds flying away from it. From Dean's side, they looked more like curly mustaches.

"Thanks." She didn't look up from her drawing. Dean scowled at her lack of interest in talking to him. He had tried to kiss her last year. Maybe she'd give him a little attention?

Before he could tell her how offended he was, a ball of paper hit Dean in the back of the head. He picked it up off the ground and recognized Benny's sloppy handwriting.

So who's sitting at your table?

Dean smoothed the paper out and copied down the names from the four other name tags in the group. Jo, Ash, Cassie, and Castiel. Everyone was sitting in their desks now except Castiel, and Dean wasn't sure if Castiel was a girl or a boy yet. He shrugged and tossed the paper back at Benny in the same exact moment that their teacher decided to look over at them.

"Dean Winchester?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. She was a round woman with dark skin and a warm face, but right now she didn't look too friendly.

"Yes?"

She placed herself between Dean and Benny's desks, eyeing them both. "My name is Ms. Moseley, and if you're going to learn one thing on your first day back from summer vacation, it's that there isn't going to be any throwing in my classroom, understand?"

Dean and Benny nodded, but as soon as Ms. Moseley had turned her back, they both grinned slyly at each other. If they had learned one thing from the entirety of third grade, it was that if you time it just right, you could get away with anything in anyone's classroom.

"I see that look, you two," Ms. Moseley warned sharply. Her back was to them. Dean and Benny exchanged shocked expressions, and she glanced at them over her shoulder. "I've got eyes in the back of my head, boys." Benny and Dean both looked adequately horrified, and she smiled.

The last few students filed into the room just as the bell rang, and she went to close the door. Just before she could, though, one last kid pushed his way through the crack. His gigantic backpack got caught in the closing door and he stumbled backward, falling on his butt. The whole classroom laughed as Ms. Moseley helped the dark-haired kid up. She apologized and tried to shush everyone else.

"Go take your seat," she said, glaring at the room. People quieted down quickly under her stare. Dean and the boy noticed that the last free spot was the one belonging to Castiel. So it was a boy. Dean nodded knowingly as Castiel sat down, red faced and panting.

"Good morning, everyone," Ms. Moseley said warmly, clasping her hands together. "If you didn't hear, my name is Ms. Moseley. I've heard a lot about all of you from your last teachers, and I'm very excited to teach you this year. Since we're all getting to know each other, I thought we'd start by going around the room, saying our names, and something about ourself. I'll start."

Dean slowly turned around in his chair like someone in a horror movie trying to open a squeaky door. Benny was facing front, his back to Dean.

"Benny," he whispered just a little too loudly.

"Dean," Ms. Moseley called out. Dean froze in his chair, a deer in headlights. "Since you seem so eager to talk, why don't you go first?"

He shifted uncomfortably, but shrugged. "I'm Dean. And, uh... my mom works at a bakery and makes really good pies."

"Thank you," Ms. Moseley said. She went through each cluster of desks, forcing children to introduce themselves. Dean didn't listen much, but he tried to memorize each of his new classmate's names. He had forgotten almost all them by the time the last student finished talking about a trip she took to Disney World over the summer. Her name was Charlie, and Dean remembered her from last year.

"Now if everyone can get out their notebooks, we're going to write about what we did over the summer."

Dean rolled his eyes as he pulled out one of the notebooks he used last year. He had either ripped out all his old writing or erased it. His dad always said to save what you could. Dean flipped to the first clean page and sighed. If he hadn't been paying attention a few minutes ago, he definitely wouldn't be now.

 

* * *

 

 

It was another sweltering day, and the jungle gym was burning from baking in the sun. Dean and Benny contemplated whether it was worth it to go through with their bet of who could hang longest on the monkey bars.

"It'll be even more intense," Benny offered. "Like in action movies."

"So does that mean the loser has to do something even worse?" Dean asked, his eyes darting around. It was no secret that Benny was bigger than him. Dean always lost stuff like this, but that wouldn't stop him from trying.

"Nah. I don't feel like thinking up something even worse than licking the toilet."

Dean thought for a minute and said, "Yeah, me neither."

"So are we gonna do it?"

Dean shrugged. "Okay."

Benny grinned evilly as he climbed the ladder up to one side of the monkey bars. Dean took the other and raised his eyebrows at his friend.

"On three?" Benny asked. Dean grabbed on to the bar in front of him.

"One, two..."

"Hey, you two!" a gruff voice shouted. Dean and Benny's heads swiveled toward the voice at the same time and, still in unison, they groaned.

Fifth graders.

Michael Novak and his posse gathered around the monkey bars, glaring up at Benny and Dean. The two younger boys eyed each other, not fully sure what to do with the situation.

"You gonna answer me?" Michael asked, yanking on Benny's leg. He dropped from the bar with a yelp, landing hard on his ankle. Dean dropped and stared anxiously at his friend, but Benny didn't seem hurt. He did look angry, though.

"What do you want?" Dean asked as calmly as he could. At the same time, his mom's voice was telling him to be good and his dad's voice was telling him not to let any jerk-bully push him around. Dean did his best to not listen to either voice.

"Get off the playground."

Benny stood up straight, not even trying to hide his glare now. "What? You can't just kick us off. It's for everyone to play on."

Michael looked at the boy standing next to him and laughed coldly. "Not anymore!"

The boy next to Michael stepped forward, getting right in Benny's face. "Don't make us force you." Dean was shocked at how deep the kid's voice was for a fifth grader, and it made him even more terrified. Benny's face mirrored Dean's feelings to a tee.

"You're gonna make him pee his pants, Raph!" Michael laughed, elbowing another one in the group. "Come on, I think they got the idea. Get lost."

Dean didn't need to be told twice, but Benny looked like he wanted to stay and fight. Dean groaned and tugged hard on his friend's sleeve, having to pull him away by the arm. Both their faces burned with humiliation as Michael and his crew roared with laughter at their retreat.

"I hate them," Benny growled, kicking a rock out of his way. Together they crossed the soccer field, heading for the bleachers. Michael wouldn't come after them there.

"So do I, but they're fifth graders. And you saw that freaky kid... Raph? He looked like he was gonna eat you." Dean huffed and sat down on the warm metal. The heat soaked through his shorts, but it didn't bother him.

"I could take him." Benny puffed out his chest and glared at the monkey bars, where Michael and Raph and everyone else was swinging across.

"No you couldn't. Let's forget about it." Dean pulled a tennis ball out of his pocket and threw it up in the air.

"I'm not forgetting about it."

"Then you're gonna get beat up."

"I told you, I could take them," Benny insisted. He started pacing in front of the bleachers. His eyes followed the tennis ball every time Dean threw it up in the air. "Besides, you know they aren't going to let us on the playground if they've taken over the whole thing. We'd never be able to do our bets then."

"We can climb trees," Dean suggested. He threw the ball up higher this time, just barely managing to catch it without standing up.

"We've done that before."

"So? You're just mad that they're bigger than us."

Benny groaned loudly and threw his hands in the air. "You are so annoying!"

Dean shrugged and tossed the ball even higher. A gust of wind kicked up just as the ball began its descent, blowing it over the side of the bleachers. Dean frowned.

"Hang on, I'll be right back." Benny groaned again as Dean hopped up to retrieve his tennis ball. Dean heard his friend muttering something about being a sissy, but he didn't get to hear the whole sentence. He turned a corner and the bleachers blocked all sound completely.

Dean scanned the ground for his tennis ball, and found something he wasn't looking for.

He waved awkwardly and tried a smile. "Hi."

The kid with the funny name—Castiel—from Dean's desk group was sitting in the shade beneath the bleachers, a bit of green chalk in his hand and a shocked expression on his face. He used his free hand—coated in a mint green layer of chalk—to wave back.

"Hi," he said.

Dean looked at the cement under the bleachers and saw it was almost totally covered in chalk drawings. The only significant clear space was the spot that Castiel was sitting in. He couldn't see what they were drawings of, but it looked pretty cool. He was going to say something, but Castiel interrupted before he had the chance.

"I'm sorry my brother is being mean," he said, scrawling on the cement next to his foot.

"Your brother?"

Castiel looked up, his cheeks red. "Michael. He's my big brother. His parents died in an accident and my parents adopted him, so he's not actually my brother."

"It sucks that you have to live with him," Dean said, nudging a patch of dead grass with the toe of his sneaker.

The dark haired boy looked down again. "He's not always bad. And my real big brother protects me."

"Oh." Dean spied his tennis ball, about ten feet away. He ran to grab it and walked back up to Castiel. "I'm, uh, Dean, by the way."

"I know," was all he got in response. Castiel had resumed drawing by his foot, tracing the outline of his shoe on the ground.

"What are you drawing?" Dean asked, inching forward. Castiel looked up, clearly surprised, but he never got the chance to answer. Benny bursted around the corner, looking just as irritated as he had a few minutes ago.

"Didn't you hear the bell, bozo?" he demanded, not even noticing Castiel. "Time to go."

Dean glanced once more at Castiel and his green chalk and then headed back with Benny, whose anger at Michael was practically radiating off of him.

"Who was that kid?" he asked once the school was in sight. Dean glanced over his shoulder and saw Castiel following them about twenty paces back. There was a chalk handprint on his jeans and a few smudges on his face and shirt. He looked so messy that Dean chucked.

"Castiel," he said, turning back to Benny. They didn't say anything else as they walked up to the main building.

 

* * *

 

 

Mary set down a plate of mac n' cheese in front of both Sam and Dean, smiling.

Sam was recounting how much is teacher—Mrs. Carpenter—loved him. His eyes were practically glowing with admiration for his teacher.

"That's so wonderful," Mary said. She grabbed two plates of fancy pasta from the kitchen counter and placed one at each of the remaining places. John hummed appreciatively and beamed at her.

"And what about you, Dean?" he asked, twirling a fork around his plate. "Did you have a good first day?"

Dean nodded, and then, after consideration, shook his head. "There were some mean fifth graders on the playground at recess. They wouldn't let me and Benny use the monkey bars on the playground."

"You remember what we talked about?" John asked through a mouthful of pasta.

Mary shot him a withering look and he raised his eyebrows at her by way of a challenge. "What? He needs to defend himself."

Mary ignored him and smiled at Dean. "Don't let them bother you, okay? You and Benny can find another place to play."

Dean stuck a spoonful of mac n' cheese in his mouth and nodded. "Okay, Mom." John rolled his eyes and tucked into his pasta, checking out of the conversation completely. Mary sighed and ignored him, too.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Dean," she said. Dean nodded again.


	2. Day 2

Sam seemed jittery as they walked into school the next morning. He kept readjusting the straps on his backpack and tripping over his own feet. Dean watched him out of the corner of his eye, making sure that he didn’t fall on his face.

“What is it?” he asked once they made it to the lobby.

Sam pressed his lips together, and for a moment Dean was sure he wasn’t going to say anything. But then his face broke out into a crooked grin. He was practically bursting to share with someone.

“What is it?” Dean repeated, laughing.

“There’s a cute girl in my story circle,” Sam confided, his voice dropping to such a low volume that Dean had a hard time hearing him in the crowd. “Her name is Jess.”

Dean made a face. “Really? A girl? Didn’t anyone ever tell you that girls have cooties or something?”

Sam frowned. “What are cooties?”

He glanced at his little brother out of the corner of his eye and grinned. “Cooties are a terrifying disease that only girls have.”

The younger boy frowned even deeper. “Then why don’t they look sick?”

Dean glanced around theatrically, like he was sharing a very important secret. He leaned closer to Sam. “Because they hide it from boys who like-like them so that they can pass on the cooties.”

Sam looked perfectly terrified now, and Dean felt like he should stop. But this was too fun.

“I can get cooties?” Sam whispered, glancing around nervously.

“Yep. And when you do your hair gets long and your name changes to Samantha and you turn into a girl.”

The quiet gasp that Sam let out pushed Dean over the edge. He started cracking up in the middle of the hallway, and Sam’s teacher gave him a stern look. Sam gaped at Dean, completely confused.

“What’s so funny?” he whined.

“Nothing, go to class,” Dean said, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. He watched as Sam walked toward the kindergarten classroom, subtly moving an extra foot away from the girl walking in next to him. Dean started cracking up all over again before he walked to his own classroom, where he planned to tell Benny exactly what happened.

 

* * *

 

 

If Dean had any mortal enemy, it was math. Numbers didn’t fit into his head, like the square pegs Sam tried to shove into round holes as a baby. The more Ms. Moseley tried to get numbers to fit, the more frustrated Dean got. By the time the bell rang for lunch on his second day, Dean was hot and sweaty and ready to bite a pencil in half. He would have already if Ms. Moseley hadn’t threatened to keep him inside for recess.

“I hate school,” Dean growled as he sat down with his brown paper bag in the cafeteria. Benny grabbed the seat next to him and dropped his Spiderman lunch box on the table with a clang.

“School isn’t too bad,” he said as he investigated the components of his lunch. His face lit up when he pulled out a package of Oreos.

“At least you get math,” Dean said as his ham and cheese sandwich dropped on the table. He glanced between his pitiful-looking lunch and Benny’s feast sadly. Today just wasn’t his day, it seemed.

“At least you can read. When she told us to read the things we wrote yesterday, I could barely talk,” Benny said around a mouthful of Doritos. Dean chuckled at the orange dust, already covering his friend’s face and hands. Benny was nothing if not a messy eater, but at least he had gotten to the point where he could chew with his mouth closed. Every time they had a play date, Dean’s mom made sure to remind Benny of that.

Dean waved a hand dismissively. “You were okay.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were.”

Benny looked like he was about to dump his half-eaten bag of Doritos on Dean’s head, but their argument stopped in his tracks when Jo sat down across from them. Dean immediately started blushing again and Benny sniggered. Jo’s gaze darted between them and then she rolled her eyes dramatically.

“Will you two dumbos grow up?” she said, looking right at Dean. “It was last year. You’re both being stupid.”

“My mother says it isn’t nice to call someone stupid,” a voice said from right over Dean’s shoulder. He almost fell out of his chair, and both Jo and Benny sniggered this time.

“Hi, Cas,” Jo said with a smile. She pulled out a chair next to her. “Sit next to me.” She took a split second to glare at both Benny and Dean as Castiel followed her orders. “He’s sitting with us today.”

“I didn’t even know you were going to be sitting with us,” Benny muttered.

Jo rolled her eyes again. “Whatever. He’s sitting with us.” Benny didn’t argue anymore.

Dean watched with raised eyebrows as Castiel walked around the table and slid into the seat Jo had offered him. He moved virtually silently, so it was no wonder he could sneak up on them. He looked embarrassed for having scared Dean, but for some reason Dean didn’t mind.

“And I can call these two stupid as much as I want,” Jo said, sticking a finger in Dean and Benny’s general direction.

Benny nodded in agreement. “My mom calls my dad stupid, too.”

“So grownups can call people stupid, but we’re not allowed to?” Jo demanded. “That’s plain dumb.”

Castiel shrugged as he took a tuna salad sandwich out of his lunchbox. “I guess. My brothers call me stupid all the time.”

“Sometimes I think my little brother is stupid, but I never say it,” Dean commented. “My dad would get so mad at me.”

“Do you want to go on the swings during recess?” Jo asked, completely ignoring Dean’s comment.

“Okay,” was all Castiel said.

“Hey, Dean,” Benny said, sliding an Oreo to him across the table. Dean didn’t bother thanking him before he scarfed it down.

“What?” he asked through a mouthful of the cookie.

“I bet I could swing so high that the swing goes all the way around before you could.”

Dean grinned, wiping the chocolate dust away. “You’re on.”

Jo just rolled her eyes again.

 

* * *

 

 

Dean and Benny never got to do their bet, and none of them had a turn on the swings at all. By the time the fourth graders were dismissed for recess, the fifth graders were already on the playground. And that meant Michael was back on his territory.

When the four of them reached the playground, the fifth graders were already spread out. A few of Michael’s group—the creep called Raph included—were sitting on top of the monkey bars, leering at anyone who tried to come anywhere near them. Michael and a few others were, of all places, sitting on the swing set and laughing about something. As soon as their eyes landed on Dean and his group, they started laughing all over again.

“Hey, Castiel!” Michael shouted, waving.

Castiel ducked his head and tried to divert his path, but Michael wouldn’t have it. He jumped off the swing he was sitting on and strode across the playground. He didn’t look happy to see Castiel or any of the others in his company.

“I thought I said you answered me when I called you,” he said once he reached the group.

“I—I didn’t hear you…” Castiel tried to say.

“Yeah,” Jo cut in. “I was talking to him. I’m a really loud talker.”

“I didn’t ask you,” Michael said to her coldly. He turned back to Castiel. “You’re really hanging around with this? It’s not like I’m surprised, but really?” He let out a short laugh as he scanned Benny, Jo, and Dean’s faces. “Pathetic.”

“Who are you calling—” Benny lunged forward, but Dean latched onto his arm and held him back. He saw that almost every single one of Michael’s posse was staring at them—a detail that Benny missed.

“I didn’t ask you, either,” Michael said, not at all phased by Benny’s aggression.

“I’m sorry Michael,” Castiel said, bowing his head. Then he looked up, getting an idea. “But I was wondering if my friends and me could use the swings today? We would never bother you again.”

Michael roared in Castiel’s face with laughter. “You really think we’d let you use the swings? Just because we live in the same house? Hah. You can tell you friends—” he put air quotes around ‘friends’ “—that you aren’t getting to use the playground. At all. It’s ours this year.”

Dean almost let Benny go. Almost.

“But that’s not fair!” Benny shouted.

Michael laughed again. “But that’s not fair,” he imitated in a voice that was more like a month-old baby’s voice than Benny’s. “It’s just the way things are.”

“You’ll get in trouble for this,” Dean warned, feeling just as angry as Benny. At least he had the sense to keep it inside.

“What? Are you going to tell on us?” Michael demanded. He glared at Castiel. “You know what happens when you try to tell on me.”

Castiel nodded, staring at the ground.

“Good. Then you can tell them that it won’t work. So don’t bother trying.”

And with that he walked back to the swings, where his gang was laughing about something again. Once he was far enough away, Dean let go of Benny’s arm. He had almost lost feeling in his fingertips. Benny rubbed his arm absently, glaring after Michael with fire in his eyes.

“We can’t let him get away with this,” he growled.

“You heard him, he won’t let us do anything,” Jo said. She sighed. “Let’s just go hang out on the bleachers or something. The swings are boring anyway.”

She and Castiel started walking over to the soccer field, but Dean stayed rooted in his spot, glaring at Michael’s back. He knew it wasn’t right to treat someone else the way Michael treated Castiel, and he wanted to do something. But his mother’s voice kept him from jumping into action. Benny looked at him hopefully.

“Come on, you agree with me, right?”

Jo and Castiel stopped and turned back around. Jo groaned.

“You seriously aren’t considering this? Cas, tell them.”

She gave Castiel a little nudge in the back and he stumbled forward, almost crashing into Dean. He mumbled an apology, still staring at the ground. The poor guy was terrified. He was even shaking. Dean’s brown furrowed and he wondered why some kid would be terrified of crashing into a friend. Then it clicked. Castiel was a wreck from their encounter with Michael.

“Do you want to just sit down here?” Dean asked quietly.

Castiel nodded and they both settled on the soft grass between the playground and the soccer field. Jo sank to the ground gracefully next to Dean, and Benny groaned. For a few moments he paced back and forth, but eventually, he sat down too. It took a minute for Castiel to calm down and stop trembling, but eventually that happened too.

“I’m sorry that your brother is so mean,” Dean said.

Castiel shrugged and rubbed his nose with the sleeve of his tee shirt. “He’s not really my brother.”

“I know, you told me yesterday, but that’s not a reason for him to be a jerk.”

“Does he bully you at home a lot?” Jo asked.

Castiel nodded.

“Why don’t your parents do anything?” she asked. “If my mom and dad knew that someone was bullying me they would go crazy.”

He shook his head. “Mom works a lot and dad’s always in his office. He writes books.”

“Don’t you tell them?” Dean asked.

“You heard what Michael said,” Castiel said sadly. “I tried telling on him when he was really bad, but he’d always convince my parents that I was lying.”

“Well he’s a douche and we need to stop him,” Benny declared.

“What’s a… douche?” Castiel asked, his lips quirking up at the corners.

Benny opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again. He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t actually know. I heard my cousin say it over the summer about a guy who was an even bigger jerk than Michael.”

“You’re right, Benny,” Dean said, grinding the heel of his foot into the ground. Everyone looked at him. “We need to do something about Michael.”

Jo threw her hands in the air. “Boys are so stupid. You can’t solve everything by fighting. Think about it: they’re fifth graders. Next year they’re gonna go to the middle school and we’re gonna be the fifth graders. We can wait until they’re gone and then the playground is ours.”

Dean leaned back and pursed his lips. “You have a point.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Benny snapped. “This year will suck unless we do something.”

“Michael will kill us if we do do something,” Jo retorted. “Just be patient.”

Cas nodded fervently. Even if he was calm now, Dean could see the fear in his face at the prospect of taking Michael on. Even if he barely knew this boy, he didn’t think anyone should be that terrified.

“Well,” he said, glancing at Benny, “it’s not like we can do anything today anyway. Let’s leave it alone.”

Benny glared at him like Dean was a traitor, and Dean just pressed his lips together in response. He didn’t have anything to say to Benny. For once, fighting wasn’t going to solve anything. Not Michael’s tyranny over the playground and definitely not Castiel’s fear of his brother.

“Do you want to play tag?” Jo asked brightly, standing up. “If we stay away from the playground we should be fine.”

Dean jumped up, more than happy to get away from the topic. “Definitely.”

Castiel smiled at them both appreciatively as they chose who was going to be It first.

  

* * *

 

  

“Hey, Mom?” Dean asked when Mary helped him into her car after school. She buckled Sam into his seat and raised her eyebrows at her oldest son.

“Yeah, Dean?”

“You know the other moms from my class, right?”

She got into the driver’s seat and glanced at Dean through the rearview mirror. “I met a few of them once. Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if you met Castiel’s mom. He’s new this year I think.”

The car turned out of the pickup line and out onto the main road. Dean watched his school grow smaller through his window. He was glad another day was over.

“You know, I actually do think I met her. I only remember because she said she and her husband named their kids after angels.” She looked at Dean through the mirror again. “What did Castiel say his last name was?”

“I didn’t ask.”

They both lapsed into silence. Sam stared out the window, clearly tired, and Dean studied his hands. He was still upset with Ms. Moseley for being so mean about math this morning. Already he was feeling that same frustration come rushing back.

“Are we going to meet Castiel?” Mary asked. They stopped at a red light and she turned around to look right at Dean. She was smiling.

 He nodded, grinning back. “Yeah.”

The light turned green, she resumed driving, and Dean started thinking about the math worksheet he had for homework. But for some reason he wasn’t as irritated as he was a few moments ago.


End file.
